A harengon artist by the name of Bunny Tyler has been commissioned by a town to paint a mural of their protective goddess on a nearby cliff face.
Bunny is successful, but the painting is so gorgeous that it has attracted the attention of a cyclops, who, because of his poor depth perception, awkwardly stands very closely to the mural, blocking anyone else’s view.
The cyclops doesn’t seem too dangerous. He just stands there, babbling words in Giant, and occasionally offers the painted goddess little tokens of affection like small bouquets of uprooted shrubbery and poorly-made arts and crafts projects that, every now and then, they fall apart.
The city guard has tried to tell the cyclops to “turn around, Bright Eye!”, but the monster pays them no heed, seemingly enthralled with the artwork.
Well, since the painting is now eclipsed by the fleshy hulking body of a cyclops and no one can even see the supposed masterpiece, the town council refuses to pay Bunny Tyler for her work (until the cyclops problem is properly handled).
Some options that the party might consider in handling this situation:
- Destroy the cyclops. Depending on your players’ levels, a cyclops is a CR 6 creature. Although the cyclops is not behaving violently yet, provoking the monster or rolling an attack against will start an all-out battle. The cyclops primarily uses his great club and ranged weapon attack. If the players are smart, they can try to stay close to the mural itself; the cyclops will avoid hurling rocks, worried that he might strike his beloved goddess-girlfriend.
- Trick the cyclops. With an INT rating of -1 and WIS rating of -2, cyclops are very easily tricked. The party might try posing as the voice of the goddess (if they can speak in Giant), breaking up with the cyclops or sending him away on some mission to win her heart.
- Ignore the cyclops. Cyclops or not, the town officials made a promise to Bunny Tyler, and an artist deserves what she’s owed. Change the entire mission into a stealth operation, sneaking into the village coffers and snatching up whatever will cover Bunny’s commission.
How would your party tend to this lovesick cyclops and help Bunny Tyler get her due? Let us know in the comments.
